July 24, 2007 - Arrival in Zurich

We had the usual problems flying out of Istanbul - too much baggage. Paying the overage fees for our bags has ended up costing us hundreds of dollars. I really wish we would have known about this before we set out on our trip. The baggage allowance for flights originating in the US is much, much higher than any other country. The climbing gear is exceptionally heavy and, for the amount of times we've used it, not worth carrying around.

But other than that, the flight went well. We got into Zurich, caught a train to the city center and found our hostel. This is the cheapest place in town and it costs 30 euros per person per night to stay in a 6 bed dorm room. I have to say that I wasn't thrilled to be staying in a tiny dorm room with 4 other people, but it worked out just fine.

We stayed on Niederdorf, which is a cute, cobble street with loads of cafes, restaurants and shops lining either side of it. The place has a lot of energy and thanks to the warm weather, lots of people were out enjoying the evening.

It's so great to be in Europe again! It just feels good - comfortable, natural, familiar. It's lovely.

Zurich train station

July 25, 2007 - We Love Harry Potter

That feels like a guilty pleasure - loving Harry Potter. But it's true. Sarah and I are consumed by the books and movies. We re-read book 6 while we were in Nepal in order to refresh our memories for book 7. Vik treated us by buying us a copy of The Deathly Hallows in Istanbul. We managed to leave it sealed for two whole days before breaking into it and beginning the adventure. As in Nepal, we are taking turns reading it aloud to each other (in British accents of course). It's great fun!

In addition to this insanity, we also made a point to go see the fifth movie. We couldn't find it in Turkey but it was all over Zurich, and in English, perfect! We went to see it and despite making ourselves sick on popcorn and chocolate, we had a blast. The movie was exciting and stayed pretty true to the book. It was just great to be in the thick of it again. We can't wait to see the next one!

Deathly Hallows

Reading book 7

New movie

July 26, 2007 - Experiencing Zurich

Our first order of business in Zurich was to do a bit of shopping. Our clothes were thread-bare after so much use over the past 7 months and we felt like country cousins coming to the city for a visit. After acquiring some decent clothes, we proceeded to tour around the city of Zurich. We stopped in at St Peter's Church, which has one of Europe's largest clock faces (28 feet in diameter). The other church we visited is the Grossmunster which translates literally as "large church" and is exactly that. Huldrych Zwingli, the founder of the Evangelical Reformed Church, preached from here. He believed that the Catholic church had too many excesses and brought about a church service with no frills, just simple preaching from the bible. Climbing up to the top of church tower rewards one with 360 degree views of the beautiful city of Zurich.

In addition to churches, we also spent some time in the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. This little gem provides a great overview of Swiss history and it has some amazing living rooms that have been recreated and put on display as complete rooms (including walls, ceilings, etc) from the Renaissance and 18th and 19th centuries. But one of the most precious finds was in the local police station. Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti painted the entry hall of this building in 1926 and his use of vibrant colors represented the relief and joy he felt at the end of WWI. It is truly breathtaking.

Hall of Flowers

View from above

Grossmunster

July 27, 2007 - Lucerne

We went to Lucerne for a day-trip. It was only 45 minutes away and I read that it was nice to get up into the mountains and see the beautiful views. However, when we got to Lucerne and found out that it was really expensive to take the trip up into the mountains, we decided to skip it.

Instead, we went to see the Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge) which was built in the 13th century. It has 17th century original paintings depicting scenes of Swiss history lining the top of the bridge. Unfortunately, a fire in 1993 destroyed more than half of these pictures, but the others are still on view.

From there we went to the Picasso Museum, which had a handful of original paintings. But more importantly, it had a collection of nearly 200 intimate photographs of Picasso in his every day life. David Duncan and his dog Lump showed up at Picasso's door and ended up spending the next three decades with him. Duncan's amazing artistry uncovered Picasso's very human personality as he was taking a bath, playing with his kids, getting a haircut, learning ballet and visiting with friends. The photos also provide insight into his artistic process and his all-consuming genius. (Click here to see a sample of the work.) Sarah and I were so excited about these photos and we long to learn more and feel lucky that we're heading for Spain, Picasso's birthplace, where we are sure to get even more information about this intriguing person.

After that amazing experience, we walked along the lake and sat on a bench watching the world go by. Then, as luck would have it, an outdoor concert started up near us so we joined in the fun and danced to the music as the sun set and an amazing day came to an end.

17th century paintings

Bridge and church

Relaxed and happy

Alps

July 28, 2007 - Existentialists and Absurdists

It seems that I'm going through an existential phase with my literature. I read Sartre's Age of Reason in which he expounds his philosophy on the freedom of the individual. And, by the recommendation of a fellow traveler, I read The Plague by Albert Camus, who is also an existentialist as well as an absurdist (he believes that life has no meaning and it is absurd and futile to try to impose will or meaning on our lives).

It has been interesting to read these books, but the ideas don't feel fresh to me. In addition, while I think the philosophies have merit, they don't inspire me. I don't feel excited about the prospect of living my life with the idea that nothing I do matters. And that's the thing... there are many truths in this world and it's good to be exposed to them, but what we latch onto says more about our personality than our intelligence.

You've got these two ends of the spectrum of life philosophies - you've got religion at one end where everything is ruled by the will of god and god makes things happen for you if it is destined and if you've been "good". On the other end, you've got absurdism where life has no meaning so don't bother with anything. As most people, I fall somewhere in between and take with me the things that resonate for me. I'm not a religious person, but there are vestiges of my Catholic upbringing that remain and influence me (however slightly). But mostly, I think that we should do whatever we want with the life we have. There is no prescribed plan for us and we can put meaning on anything that we want. As long as people are living a full and active life where they are experiencing the world and loving people in it, then what more could we want.

But back to The Plague... I think this is an interesting book. If you look at it from the perspective of pure philosophy, it provides an interesting commentary on how human beings react to a crisis - it is a microcosm of a lifespan. A quote from the book that I like and that I think sums things up quite simply is this: "The plaque has a good side - it opens men's eyes and forces them to take thought." We go on with the business of living and get so caught up in it that we lose sight of our lives. It takes something drastic, like illness or war or loss, to make us stop and reset our priorities. Something else I find interesting in the book is the idea that we all have the plague inside us and we must keep careful watch on ourselves to ensure that we don't infect others with it. Meaning that we all have evil in us and it's up to us to choose to suppress those evil thoughts and deeds and continually make the choice for "good". The quote from the book that I like for this is, "On this earth, there are pesitlences and there are victims adn it's up to us not to join forces with the pestilences." That can be applied to so many facets of life and I believe it is a good philosophy.

However, you can read The Plague on another level as well. It can be read as a allegory of Germany's invasion of France during World War II. Hitler crept up on the world in plain view and people chose to ignore signs of danger until it was too late and they were under attack. Same with a plague... we dismiss warning signs because operating outside of "life as usual" is a nuisance. Fighting the plague and fighting Hitler turned out to be similar experiences as well. Quite interesting how Camus was able to tie the two together and have the book function on two such different planes and succeed on both.

Interesting philosophy

Camus

Sartre

July 28, 2007 - Wanderweg in Switzerland

Switzerland is a small country and we really wanted to do a hike. So we hopped on a train and got ourselves to Mannedorf. From there, we hiked along the Wanderweg trail for about 4 hours. It was fun to walk through farms and villages and we enjoyed not only the beautiful views, but also the incredibly friendly Swiss people we met along the way. We ended up in Rapperswil to visit the castle and relax over a glass of wine.

Wanderweg signs

Pretty flower

Leslie swings from a tree

S is for Sarah

Rapperswil view